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remedy ? Personally, I have no hesitation in stating that the
cause is due almost entirely to the immigration of pauper
aliens. It is only in certain parts of our district that I find the
foreigner pushing his way, and in that neighbourhood the overcrowding
is at its worst. On account of poverty, a man with
a large family, and who ought to take a whole house, will
only take two rooms. He can well afford to pay a shilling or
two a week more than the former tenant, as even then these
two rooms will be cheaper than if he had to house his family
properly. Furthermore, he differs as a rule from the British
workman in that he often uses his living room both as a workroom
and as a sleeping room.
On account of his poverty, therefore, parodoxical as it may
appear, he is able to pay a higher rent than the Englishman,
and the Englishman has to go. Very often our sanitary
notices result in higher rents, and the opportunity for the introduction
of the foreigner. To give an example, notices were
served on the owner of 17 houses in Twine Court, Shadwell,
with the result that notices to quit were served on all the tenants.
The excuse given was, that the notices could not be
complied with unless the houses were empty. After the houses
had been satisfactorily repaired, they were let to foreigners at
a rental of 4/- a week more, and in no instance was a former
tenant allowed to occupy the house. This is not a solitary
case but similar cases occur almost daily. It will continue,
and overcrowding and want of proper housing accommodation
will result till some means are taken to restrict the immigration
of foreign aliens. Clearing slum areas and building palatial
dwellings and the subsequent letting of rooms at double
the rents that were paid for rooms in the area before it was
cleared, will not abate overcrowding, but will be a factor in
increasing overcrowding in the ineighbouring streets. When
the King John Court area will be built upon, I am certain of
this, that none of the tenants that formerly lived there, will be
re-housed in the new houses, for one very excellent reason that
they will not be able to pay the increased rent.